Machine for sorting and cleaning articles



March 27, 1934. w. E. GHENT El AL MACHINE FOR SORTING AND CLEANING ARTICLES Filed Oct. 5, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet l l-NA A &

INVENTORS fimzl Par/ 5 EZa'r'ATT RNEY March 27, 1934. w. GHENT ET AL MACHINE FOR SORTING AND CLEANING ARTICLES Filed Oct. 3, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Z561} ATT RNEY March 27, 1934. w. E. GHENT ET AL 1,952,429

MACHINE FOR SORTING AND CLEANING ARTICLES Filed Oct. 3, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Zia-A T ORNEY March' 27, 1934. w. E. GHENT El Al. 1,952,429

MACHINE FOR SORIING AND CLEANING ARTICLES Filed Oct. 3. 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 F t g .15

631 a, a/ 202 Z4 6L4 Patented Mar. 27, 1934 PATENT ()FFICE MACHINE FOR SORTING AND CLEANING ARTICLES William E. Ghent and Frank M. Parks, Atlanta,

Y., Corporation, Atlanta, New York assignors to Boggs Manufacturing N. Y., a corporation of Application October 3, 1932 Serial No. 635,908

5 Claims.

The present invention relates to a machine for sortingor grading and cleaning articles and has for its object to provide an improved machine of this class which can be economically constructed and operated and which will efiiciently grade or sort the articles as well as clean the same during their passage throughthe machine.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved machine for sorting or grading and at the same time cleaning certain kinds of vegetables, such as potatoes and the like which are advanced by a belt or other suitable means upon which they are shifted one relative to another during advancement to facilitate cleaning by I means of brushes operating adjacent the belt.

A further object of the invention is to provide a series of rotary cleaning brushes in combination with a belt -having spaced rollers for turning or shifting the article's whereby various pertions of the articles arepresented to the brushes,

in which arrangement one brush through its rotating action when the articles are passing thereunder tends to spin the articles upon the rollers and to advance them in the direction of the next succeeding brush for a similar operation thereby, thus cooperating with the rollers to change the positions of the articles thereon to facilitate thorough cleaning of the same.

' A further object of the invention is to provide oneor more cleaning brushes for the articles in combination with a belt for advancing the articles whereby the latter are cleaned during movement by the belt and are then carried by the belt to an advanced position for sorting by hand.

' A further object of the invention is to provide a series of cleaning elements for the articles in combination with a grading or other type of belt, in which arrangement the cleaning elements operateupon different portions of the articles to insure thorough cleaning of the same during advancement by the belt.

A further object of the invention is to provide improved forms of construction and arrangements of parts which will facilitate the cleaning as well as the grading or sorting oi the articles and which will effect the results desired in an efficient and economical manner.

"To these and other ends the invention resides in certain improvements and combinations of parts, all as will be hereinafter more fully described, the novel features being pointed out in the claims at the ends of the specification.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a machine constructed in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional elevation drawn to an enlarged scale and taken on line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a transverse section taken on lines 44 of Figs. 2 and 3;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional elevation taken on line 55 of Fig. 4, showing the adjustable bearing arrangement for one of the cleaning brushes;

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section taken on line 66 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a horizontal section taken on line '7--7 of Fig. 2 drawn to an enlarged scale and showing one of the idler sprockets for the brush driving chain;

Fig. 8 is a part sectional elevation of a modified form of the invention showing the cleaning brushes associated with a difierent form of feed belt;

Fig. 9 is a transverse section taken on line '9-9 of Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is a plan view of a portion of the feed beit shown in Fig. 8;

Fig. 11 is an end view of a modified form of brush for cleaning the articles;

Fig. 12 is a side elevation of a machine somewhat similar to that shown in Fig. 1 in which a grading belt is employed in conjunction with the cleaning brushes, and

Fig. 13 is a plan view of the same.

The same/reference numerals throughout the several views indicate the same parts.

The present invention embodies a combined cleaning and sorting or grading machine and is particularly adapted for cleaning and sorting certain kinds of vegetables, such, for example, as potatoes and the like. In one form of the invention the belt is adapted to both shift the articles one relative to another and to advance them in contact with a series of spaced brushes, preferably of the rotary type, which operate to clean the articles, the latter being subsequently carried by the belt to a position in advance of the brushes where they are sorted by an attendant to eliminate those which for different reasons may be inferior or defective.

In another form, as in Figs. 8 to 10 inclusive, the potatoes or other articles are advanced by a belt on which there is no relative movement of articles except that produced by the brushes when revolving in contact with the articles.

are discharged-upon a suitable grading belt and are advanced by the latter in contact with the cleaning brushes during rotation of the same. In this arrangement the articles which do not pass through the belt before reaching the brushes are cleaned by the latter, the belt serving merely to grade the articles and to deliverall above a predetermined size to a suitable receptacle, not shown. However in the different arrangements shown, the brushes operate to shift the articles upon the belt so that in each case relative movement of the articles is produced whereby the different brushes will operate upon different portions of the articles to thoroughly clean the same.

In the arrangement shown in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive, and 3, the brush carrying frame is mounted for a swinging movement above the conveyor in order that it may be moved to an elevated position at which the brushes will clear the articles advanced by the conveyor when it is desired to sort the articles without cleaning the same.

Referring to the drawings, represents a plurality of upright supports connected by cross members 11 and longitudinally extending side rails 12 secured together by any suitable means and comprising a frame or base for the support of the conveyor mechanism for advancing the articles to be sorted. Superimposed upon the rails 12are the upper and lower sides 13 and 14 of the frame, which are suitably secured to the standards or supports 10 preferably by bolts 15. Upon the inner faces of the upper side members 13 are secured spaced cleats or strips 16, between which are transversely extending struts 18 through which extend tie rods 19 for bracing and tying the frame members together. Extending transversely between the upper side members 13 and journaled in bearings thereon are front and rear sprocket shafts 20 and 21 respectively, the former being provided with sprockets 22 and the latter with sprockets 23 located adjacent the inner faces of the side members. Similar front and rear sprocket shafts 24 and 25 are extended transversely between and journaled in suitable bearings on the lower side members 14, said shafts being provided respectively with sprockets 26 and 27 which are also located adjacent the inner faces of said side members. Separate sprocket chains 28 are carried, one by the four sprockets at one side of the machine and theother by the four sprockets at the opposite side of the machine, the chains being driven by the shaft'21 which has on one end a driving sprocket 29 located outside of the frame member 13 as indicated in Fig. 1.

The conveyor proper comprises a plurality of rollers 30 spaced slightly apart and having their opposite ends recessed to receive the pintles 32 carried by certain links of the chains 28. The rollers while advancing the potatoes or other articles are made to rotate about their axes through frictional engagement with the supporting strips 33 on the cleats 16, said strips beingpreferably formed of material of a flexible nature such as canvas or belting material which is effective for the purpose provided.

With the arrangement shown, the potatoes are turned or shifted by the rollers both before and after cleaning and it will be understood that the attendant will have an opportunity to pick out the inferior potatoes or other articles advanced by the rollers after the brushes have operated upon the articles.

Means is provided for collecting the dirt and other refuse carried forward by the conveyor belt with the material to be sorted whereby when it drops through the rollers it is prevented from accumulating on the lower run of the belt. This means comprises a receptacle 34 suitably constructed of sheet material and in the form of an open sided pan, the edges of which rest upon and are supported by the side frame members 14 of the machine as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. By reason of the converging wall portions of the receptacle 34 the dirt or other refuse descending between the overlying rollers will tend to accumulate at the lowest point of the receptacle and can then be readily removed through the open sides of the latter and collected in a suitable receptacle, not shown.

Any suitable means may be provided for the delivery of the articles to the sorting conveyor, such, for example, as a belt 35 operating between the sides of a frame 36 and driven by a member 37 on a shaft 38 journaled in bearings mounted on spaced uprights 39 for supporting the side frame members 36. The shaft 38 may be driven by any suitable means such as a belt 40 on a pulley 41 secured to said shaft. The shaft 38 also carries a sprocket 42 for driving a chain 43 which in turn drives the sprocket 29 on the drive shaft 21 of the sorting belt. The belt may be tensioned when desired by adjusting the shaft bearings 44 located on the outer faces of the side frame members 14 as shown in Fig. 1.

The potatoes or other articles are delivered by the feed belt 35 to an apron 45 hinged at 46 for an upward swinging movement and overlying an inclined support 47 disposed between the side frame members 13 as shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

At the discharge end of the sorting belt is provided a chute comprising a downwardly inclined plate member 48 and upstanding end plates 49 which are secured to the side frame members 13 by means of straps 50 as shown in Fig. 1.

Suitable bag holding devices 51 are provided at the opposite sides of the center of the sorting belt which are connected by any suitable means with the plates 48 and 49. A gate 52 is pivotally mounted between the bottom plate 48 and an overlying support 53 for a swinging movement I in opposite directions to effect alternate discharge of the articles to the bags which are supported and held open by the devices 51. The gate is supported in the oppositely inclined positions by stops 54 as shown in Fig. 2.

Means is provided for preventing discharge of the articles at the ends of the rollers to the driving chains 28 during advancement of the rollers by said chains. This means preferably comprises strips 55 of flexible or yieldable material having their lower edges in engagement with the is protected by means of the longitudinally extending strips 58 which overlie said members and maintain the articles thereon.

The brushes 59, which serve to clean the articles 60, are carried by shafts 61 which extend through slots 62 in the spaced side members 63. The side members are preferably supported by the sides 13 of the conveyor frame, said members being superimposed upon the rails 57 overlying the sides 13 as shown in Fig. 4. The members 63 are connected one with another by means of straps 64 whichexte'nd transversely between said members and "serve "'to brace the "latter "to prevent spreadingof thesam'e.

"erably'byscrews 68as shown in Figsfiuand's. The

upper ends of the'a'ngle irons'are'braced by anonnecting plate 69 as'bes't shown in Fig. 5. 'The "bearings '66 are made adjustable vertically'to' effeet adjustment of the "brushes to accommodate "themto articles of diiferentsizes. "To this end,

"screws '70 are extended upwardly fromthe bear- "ings-throughg'uides '71on the plate 69. The-screw 'is'provide'd with a nut '72 seated "on the plate which when turned will'raise' or lower the "bearing as desired. 'A fter thebearing has been 'ad- 'justed to the desired position a second nut 73 on the screw is adjusted to engage theguide '71 whereby the bearing is locked agahist"movement in either direction. If desired the bearings the opposite ends of the shafts maybe pro- "vided with means for regulating "their height,

"ed or inclined in cases where articles moving thereunder are above "a "certain predetermined size, the tilting action being made possible by allowing for a certain amount of "play between the shaft bearings and the guides in which they are mounted. The shafts are held against longitudinal movement to any'appre'ciable "extent by means of the collars '74 thereon which are sp'a'cedjslight- 1y from the side membersiiS as shown in Figs. 4 and 6.

The driving means for'the brushes comprises a continuous belt "75 driven by a sprocket '76 on the shaft '38 which drives "the belt "'28 for advancing the rollers 30. The belt 75 is extended under the sprockets 76 on the brush supportin shafts 61 in driving engagement with said sprockets and is carried over the idlers'7'7- on the stub shafts '78 connected with one "of the side frame members 63'by a sleeve '79'-'as shown inFig. '7. The belt is also extended around 'i'diers i80fon a stub shaft -81'supported by a sleeve 79a similar tot-he sleeve 79 shown in Fig. '7 and mounted in the same manner. 7 v n The speed of the brushes is preferably made somewhat greater than that of the rollers which move the articles in position beneath the brushes.

However the speed may be regulated as'd'esired,

depending upon the different kinds of articles to be cleaned. Since the articles are being constantly shifted by the turning action of the rollers different portions thereof willbe madeto contact with the brushes so that by the time the articles have passed under the different brushes they will have been thoroughly cleaned by the'rotatin'g'action thereof. Furthermore the articles while passing beneath the brushes will be turned or shifted by the latter upon the rollers to'a certain extent, thus insuring pro-per cleaning of the articles. The brushes, as the articles pass thereunder, tend, by their rotating action, to sweep the articles forwardly as well as to spin or frotate the same upon the belt thus causing the articles to assume different positions upon the belt from time to time whereby they will be more thoroughly cleaned by the brushes.

In order to prevent too rapid advancement of "the articles by the last brush beneath which they are carried, a buffer 81a is suspended from the front strap 64 for bracing the side members"63.

The buffer is preferably in the form of a loop and isconstructed of relatively thin flexible material such, for example, as soft rubber. The articles are checked by the buffer and are caused -to pass thereunder by the rollers toward the front of the machine where they are preferably sorted by an attendant who removes those which may be considered unsatisfactory or defective.

The arrangement shown in Figs. 8 and '9 is somewhat similar to that shown in Figs. 3 and 4 and the corresponding parts have therefore been given the same reference characters. However, in this arrangement the conveyor belt is constructed differently from that shown in Fig. 3 and the 'idlers associated with the brush operating belt are omitted. The intermediate brush therefore is rotated in an opposite direction from the remaining brushes, the purpose of this being to effectively turn the articles upon the belt in different directions to insure thorough cleaning of the same. However, to insure proper passage 'of the articles beneath the intermediate brush the latter may be adjusted somewhat higher than the remaining brushes to increase the spa'ce'between it and the conveyor belt, or if preferred the speed of the intermediate brush may be reduced by changing the size of the sprocket for driving the same.

In the modification shown in Figs. 8 and 9 the bearing blocks on the shafts 61 corresponding to those shown at the left of Fig. 4 have been omitted, the shaft ends being directly supported by the side members 63 within the slots thereof as shown at the left of Fig. 9.

The conveyor belt shown in Figs. 8 to 10 inclusive comprises a pair of flexible belt sections 82 connected by spaced. slats 83, the article receiving portions of which are curved or convex as shown in Fig. 8. The belt sections are supported by two rolls at each end of the frame, those at one end only being shown. The rolls are designated by the reference characters 84 and 85 and are supported by shafts 86 and 87 respec tively, 'the opposite ends of which are journaled in the side walls of the conveyor supporting frame. The upper roll 35 preferably constitutes a driving roll for the belt and its shaft 86 occupies the same relative position as the driving shaft 21 for the roller belt shown in Fig. 1. By placing a sprocket on the shaft 86 in the position corresponding to the sprocket 29 shown in Fig. 1 the belt 43 shown in said figure may be utilized to drive the shaft 86 and the belt driving roll 85 thereon whereby to advance the slats 83 for the purpose of moving the articles in contact with the cleaning brushes overlying the slats.

It will be understood that the brush driving belt '75 shown in Fig. 8 is to be connected with and driven by the large sprocket 76 on the drive shaft 38 shown in Fig. l.

The brushes may be constructed of any suitable material which will operate upon the articles without injuring the same such, for example, as relatively soft bristles. In Fig. 1 1, however, a modified form of brush is shown, comprising a spool or hub-like center 88 having a bore 89 for receiving the driving shaft. The cleaning elements of the brush preferably comprise a series of U-sh-ape'd sections '90 formed of any suitable its flexible material such as cloth or the like, sufficiently pliable to yield to a certain degree when contacting with the articles during rotation of the brushes. The U-shaped sections are preferably secured to the hub-like member 88 by nails or the like as indicated at 91.

The brush carrying frame, comprising the side members 63 and the connecting means therefor, is provided at its rear end with pivot members 36a extended through openings 36b in the frame members and through the spacing elements 360 interposed between said frame members and the side members 36 of the feed belt frame as shown in Fig. 2. In operation, the side members of the brush carrying frame rest upon and are supported by the sides of the sorting belt frame as shown in Figs. 1 to 3, and 8. The brush carrying frame is held in service position by means of the clamping bolts 13b extended through the main frame members 13 and through slots 13a in the lower ends of the front strap 64 which serves to connect the sides 63 of the brush carrying frame. Upon loosening the nuts on the bolts 132) the brush holding frame may be swung upwardly to a position at which the brushes will clear the articles advanced by the underlying conveyor, in which position said frame will be held by any suitable or preferred means, not shown. The raising of the brush carrying frame to inoperative position is advantageous in cases where it may be desired to sort the articles without employing the brushes to clean the same.

In the modification shown in Figs. 12 and 13 the arrangement of the brushes and their mountings is the same as that shown in Figs. 1 and 3. However the brush carrying frame, in this modification, is not shown as being pivotally mounted upon the sorting belt frame. The belt for operating the brushes is driven directly from the conveyor belt drive shaft rather than from the feed belt drive shaft as in Fig. l. The parts common to both machines have been given the same reference characters.

The brush supporting frame members are designated by the reference character 63a and the straps for connecting the same by the reference character 64a, the straps in this case being connected with the side frame members 13 by means of screws 64?).

The brush driving belt '75 is extended under rather than over the driving sprockets and consequently it is carried over the idlers '78 as shown in Fig. 12. An additional idler 77a has been provided which is suitably journaled on the side frame members 63 as shown in Fig. 12.

The feed belt 92 is carried by an inclined frame 93 suitably supported at its upper end by a vertically disposed member 94 secured upon the standards 10 at the lower end of the conveyor belt frame as shown in Fig. 12. The feed belt is supported at its delivery end by a roll 95 having connected therewith a pulley 96 driven by a belt 97 which serves to drive a second pulley 99 on the drive shaft 100 for rotating the driving roll 101, which in turn drives a conveyor belt 102 extended at its front end over a rotary support 103, the opposite ends of which are journaled in the side frame members 13.

The belt 102 is preferably of the wire mesh type adapted for grading the articles delivered thereto by the feed belt 92. However, the articles which are too large to pass through the openings in the belt are advanced beneath and in contact with the revolving brushes 59 by which they are thoroughly cleaned before being discharged from the belt,

The upper flight of the conveyor belt is prevented from sagging at points opposite the brushes 59 by means of the transversely extending members 104 shown by dotted lines in Fig. 12, which if preferred may be mounted for rotation about the axes of suitable supporting shafts 105.

In the operation of the machine the articles are delivered by the feed belt to the conveyor belt for advancement thereby beneath the revolving brushes for cleaning by the latter. This is true in the case of each of the belt arrangements shown. In the arrangement shown in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive the articles are being constantly shifted by. the action of the rollers on which they rest whereby different portions of the articles are presented to the brushes. Since the brushes also serve to turn or shift the articles upon the rollers through rotation of the brushes in engagement with the articles all portions of the latter will be presented for engagement with one or another of the brushes whereby thorough cleaning of each article is assured.

While in the arrangement shown in Fig. 8 the articles are not turned by the slats on which they rest, nevertheless the slats are so constructed and arranged as to permit free and easy turning of the articles thereon by the rotating action of the brushes, whereby the latter will thoroughly clean the articles before they are discharged by the belt.

In the arrangement shown in Figs. 12 and 13 the brushes will also operate to shift the articles fed therebeneath by the grading belt which .is constructed in a manner to permit easy turning or shifting of the articles thereon without in urihg the same.

The speedof the brushes may be varied if desired to produce the best results depending upon the character of the articles and the speed at which the belt is to be driven.

We claim:

1. A machine for'handling articles comprising a main frame and a second frame including spaced side rails having guideways formed thereon, a conveyor on the main frame for advancing the articles, a plurality of brushes extending transversely of the conveyor arranged one in advance of another and adapted to clean the articles advanced by the conveyor, said brushes having supporting shafts rotatable on the second frame, the shafts at one end being free during operation to move vertically in the guideways of one of the side rails under the lifting action of the articles advanced beneath the brushes by the conveyor, the oppositeends of the shafts having bearing adjustable vertically in the guideways of the other side rail, means for effecting vertical adjustment of the bearings, sprockets for rotating said shafts, a chain for driving the sprockets, common means for operating said chain and said conveyor, and means pivotally supporting the second frame at its rear end for a swinging movement about a transverse axis to an inclined position relative to the main frame whereby to shift the brushes from normal operating position to a position inclined relative to said conveyor without disconnecting the chain.

2. A machine for cleaning articles, comprising a main frame, a continuous conveyor on the frame including articles receiving elements extending transversely of the direction of travel of the conveyor and having curved surfaces to facilitate turning of the articles during advancement thereof, a drive shaft extending transversely of the conveyor and operatively connected therewith, a second frame pivoted at its rear end adjacent said drive shaft, a pair of spaced cleaning brushes and an intermediate brush for the articles overlying the conveyor and rotatable upon the second frame, said brushes being of a length substantially equal to the width of the article receiving portion of the conveyor, bearings rotatably supporting the brushes on the second frame, and driving belt for the brushes driven by said shaft and operating to rotate the intermediate brush in a direction opposite to that in which the articles are advanced, said intermediate brush and the conveyor elements for advancing the articles cooperating to turn the latter during advancement of the same, said driving belt operating to rotate the remaining brushes in the direction of travel of the articles, the second frame being adapted to swing about its rear end from normal operating position to an inclined position relative to the conveyor without disconnecting the belt.

3. A machine for cleaning articles, comprising a main frame, a conveyor for the articles mounted upon said frame including spaced members for advancing the articles, a drive shaft extending transversely of the conveyor and operatively connected therewith a second unitary frame adjacent the main frame comprising spaced side members having connecting transversely extending parts, a plurality of brushes extending transversely of the conveyor and r0- tatably supported by said side members, driving means comprising a driven member on said shaft and a belt driven by said member and operating to rotate one of the brushes in a direction opposite to that in which the articles are advanced whereby it is made to cooperate with said spaced members to turn the articles during advancement of the same, said belt operating to rotate another of the brushes in the direction of travel of the articles, and means adjacent said transverse shaft pivotally supporting one end of the second frame upon which means said second frame is adapted to swing to a position at which the brushes will clear the articles on the conveyor.

4. A machine for handling articles comprising a main frame, a sorting belt for the articles mounted upon said frame, a conveyor for delivering the articles to the sorting belt, a drive shaft extending transversely of the conveyor and operatively connected therewith, a driving connection between said shaft and sorting belt, a sprocket on said shaft, a unitary frame including spaced side members overlying the main frame and having pivotal supporting means at their rear ends adjacent said drive shaft, a plurality of brushes for cleaning the articles advanced by the sorting belt extending between and rotatably supported by the side members of said unitary frame, driving sprockets for said brushes, and a sprocket chain engaging said driving sprockets and the sprocket on said shaft adapted to be driven by the latter, said unitary frame being free to swing upon said pivotal supporting means to a non-operating position without disconnecting the chain from the sprockets.

5. A machine for handling articles comprising front and rear frames, a sorting belt for the articles mounted on the front frame, a conveyor belt on the rear frame adapted to discharge at a point above the receiving end of the sorting belt, a chute between said belts for conveying the articles discharged by the delivery belt to the sorting belt, a drive shaft for the delivery belt adjacent the front end of said rear frame, a driving connection between said shaft and the sorting belt, a unitary frame overlying the front frame and having pivotal means connecting its rear end with the front end of the rear frame adjacent said shaft, a plurality of brushes for cleaning the articles advanced by the sorting belt rotatably supported by said unitary frame, a driving member on said shaft and a driving belt engaging said member for operation thereby and extending forwardly at one side of said unitary frame and operatively connected with said brushes, said unitary frame being free to swing upwardly upon the front end of the rear frame without disconnecting the driving belt from the brushes.

WILLIAM E. GHENT. FRANK M. PARKS. 

